UFC Fort Lauderdale has got itself a new main event, with ESPN reporting that Jack Hermansson will step up to replace Yoel Romero in the main event to face Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza on April 27.
This will be an incredibly quick turnaround for Jack Hermansson, who just defeated David Branch just last Saturday at UFC Philadelphia. With that victory, Jack Hermansson found himself ranked #10 in the middleweight rankings, cracking the top 10 in the first time in his career. Hermansson is now 19-4 and on a three-fight winning streak, with victories over Thales Leites, Gerald Meerschaert, and most, recently, David Branch.
Jacare Souza’s last fight took place last November against former middleweight champion Chris Weidman at UFC 230. Souza has been chasing a title shot since he was next in line to fight then champion Michael Bisping in 2016. Unfortunately, Souza was not granted the opportunity to fight Bisping and he has continued to wait and bide his time for his next opportunity.
ESPN also reports that Jacare Souza was guaranteed that with a victory over Jack Hermansson, he will receive a title shot, facing the winner of the unification bout to take place later this year between the Israel Adesanya/Kelvin Gastelum winner and Robert Whittaker. Souza is currently 26-6-1 and has gone 2-2 in his last four bouts.
UFC Fort Lauderdale takes place from the BB&T Center and the updated card now includes:
Main Event: Jacare Souza vs. Jack Hermansson
Greg Hardy vs. Dmitrii Smoliakov
Glover Teixeira vs. Ion Cuțelaba
John Lineker vs. Cory Sandhagen
Andrei Arlovski vs. Augusto Sakai
Mike Perry vs. Alex Oliveira
Jim Miller vs. Jason Gonzalez
Dhiego Lima vs. Court McGee
Jessica Penne vs. Jodie Esquibel
Carla Esparza vs. Livia Renata Souza
Who is your pick for the new UFC Fort Lauderdale main event between Jacare Souza and Jack Hermansson?
